Phonograph record and method of producing the same



, particularly compositions.

Patented Oct. 28, 1924.

UNITED STATES cna'n'nns r. mnsnn, or

or NEW YORK, n. Y., A

NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR '1'0 MADSENELL CORPORATION, CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PHONOGRAPH RECORD AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

No Drawing. Application filed June 14, 1920, Serial No. 388,897. Renewed January 21, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES P. MADSEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Phonograph Records and Methods of Producing the Same, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to records, particularly sound records, and to methods of pro-' ducing the same. It is an object of my invention to devise a superior form of record,

sound records, for use in phonographs and the like, which shall possess many advantages, such as superior durability' and playing properties, greater ease and economy in manufacture, and other advantages morefully pointed out hereinafter, over the ordinary stamped record now on the market and made from various plastic These com osition molded or stamped playing recor s are not only frail, and short-lived, but are comparatively poor copies of the original, and it has hitherto been impossible-to make a metal record which will be free from surface noises and withstand the action of the needle.

By way of example, I shall describe in the accompanying specification illustrative p embodiments of the process and product of my invention, it being understood, however, that my invention is not limited to such illustrative embodiments which are herein set1 forth for the purpose Qf illustration on y.

I have discovered that an electrodeposited metal record, as a nickel metal, or nickel alloy record, will, when properly made, have a smoother surface than the ordinary stamped record and will withstand the action of the needle or diamond better. It is to be understood that by the term nickel metals, I mean to designate either nickel,

or cobalt, or alloys containing substantial amounts of either nickel, or cobalt, or both of these metals. I have furthermore discovered a new process of producing such metal playing records, as well as superior masters, mothers and Stampers now used inthe art ofstamping records, which are very much chea er and are more faithful copiesof the original wax master than i any heretofore produced. I ain therefore enabled to make not only a practical metal also improved masters, mothers and,

Stampers for making the usual molded or composition records.

In making these new metal playing records, I may use the usual or well-known means for the electrodeposition part of the process, but I find, in doing so, that it is dlfiicult to control the'hardness and soundness of the metal, and to avoid the difii'culties ofdepositio-n, especiall' in the case of the nickel metals, including the curling or cracking open of the deposit during depos1t1on. I therefore prefer to use for makmg such players, masters, mothers and stampers the process of electrodeposition disclosed in my applications, Ser. No. 254,793, filed September 19, 1918 and Ser. No. 292,793 filed April 26, 1919, and find by doing so thatmany new and unexpected results of great theoretical interest and great practical value, are obtained.

It is impractical to make nickel mothers,

find that my new nickel, or the other nickel metals as disclosed in application, Ser. No. 292,794 filed April 26, 1919, made in accordance with the processes'disclosed in my aplication, Ser. No. 254,792, filed September 19, 1918, and application, Ser. No. 292,793, filed April 26, 1919, is very well adapted for the purpose, and that many advantages, and useful and unexpected results are gamed by so doing.

I shall, in the accompanying specification, illustrate one embodiment of my invention by way of example, using my new nickel made by means of one of my new processes of electrodeposition referred to above, it be-- ing understood, however, that my invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments herein set forth for the purpose of illustration only.

Briefly described, one form of my electrodeposition methods which may be successfully employed in connection with the present invention, makes use of a nickel anode, which is substantially free from occluded or combined oxygen, chromium, copper and silicon, and also substantially free from passive or insoluble portions.

Such an anode contains amorphous carbon and may be prepared by meltin nickel shot in a reducing atmosphere, suc 1 as atmosphere of carbon monoxide, together with from about .5 to about 2 per cent of amorphous carbon. The mixture should be stirred occasionally in a moltencondition and kept molten for about one half to aboutone hour, care being taken that the temperature is not raised to such a point as to graphitize the amorphous carbon. In casting such anodes, care should also be taken notto let the cast cool too rapidly since itis' desirable to prevent the formation of comparatively large crystals, the anode being better in operation where it is of a fine crystalline structure, with the average longest dimension of the crystals being approximately between one-sixty-fourth and one sixteenth of an inch.

While various electrodeposition baths may be used in connection with the present invention, I prefer to use a bath made up of nickel chloride (Nicl nickel sulphate (NiSO boric acid and a slight amount of sodium sulphate. The bath is preferably heated to a temperature of 130 F. In order to deposit perfect metal, by which I mean metal which is sound, reguline, malleable and ductile and substantially free from pores, pits and hydrogen, the bath shouldhave a very slight H-ion concentration of a nickel solvent-acid, such as hydrochloric or sulphuric acid. The H-ion concentration should not, however, be great enough to cause substantial hydrogen evolution at the cathode. The bath should also have suspended therein finely divided or collodial nickel metal hydrate, such as nickelous hydrate.

By selecting a proper ratio between the area of the surface of the anode and the area of the surface of the cathode, it will be possible to maintain the initial solvent-acid H-ion concentration of the bath through a considerable period of operation. This ratio may readily be determined by trial and should be such as to cause a slight alkalinetending characteristic to generate a slight amount of nickel'metal, as nickelous, hydrate, continuously during deposition.

Applying the electrodeposition process just described to the present invention, I may prepare a wax master record in the usual manner. I may then for the purpose of making players first make by the usual and well-known means a copper metal masterby electrodeposition upon the wax master, and I may treat this copper master for receiving a non-adhering deposit in the old way, as by sulphiding or silvering and then iodizing, and upon this deposite my nickel players. I may also from this copper master make a copper mother, and then'treat this mother for receiving a non-adhering deposit, and from this make a sub-master or stamper upon which I may deposit my metal player.

I may also-make my metal master of nicked metal by deposition upon the wax master, but I-find this difiicult to do because of the low softening point of the wax. I. therefore prefer in making my new nickel metal mothers, playing records first to make a copper master uponthe wax in the usual way. I then give this an extremely thin coating of my new nickel metal, by any of my newelectrodeposition processes referred to above. A new and valuable result is obtamed by so doing. This coating is not like the ordinary nickel plating in that it. is impervious, free from hydrogen, and remarkably smooth. 7 I find that a coating as thin as .00005 of an inch is impervious and can receive subsequent treatment without afiectmg the copper underneath and? that this thickness alters the dimensions of the sound record less'than the usual sulphide or iodized silver coating formerly used.

I have discovered that treating the nickel surfaceas an anode in an electrolytic cell contalnmg strong as 15 per cent solution of sodium hydroxide or other alkali, with a current. density of about 50 amperes per square foot for abouttwo seconds, renders the nickel metal surface of the master or other record capable of receiving 'a freely separable nonsadherent coating of nickel metal.

No visible change can be detected in the nickle metal surface as a result of this treatment and a microscopic examination shows practicallv no increase or decrease in the size of the sound record grooves. This separation treatment is an improvement over the old means used for such purpose not only because it results in a more faithful reproduction but also because the treatment is semipermanent and one treatment will permit of many'separable deposits being made in succession. Furthermore, the deposit made upon such a surface is much more easily separable than by any now known treatment. I. am, accordingly, enabled to makemickel metal deposits upon nickel metal surfaces treated by this method as thin as .0005 and remove them readily and perfectly, for use as mothers, Stampers, players, or for other purposes. By so doing not only are more faithful copies obtained, but they can be made very much thinner.

I therefore prefer to make mynew metal player by depositing nickel metal upon the copper master coated with a thin layer of my new nickel metal, and treat it with the separation process described above. In

commercial production, however, I prefer to use such a master for making a nickel mother. Instead, however, of making this nickel mother of the same thickness as is necessary in making them in copper by the old Stampers and means referred to above, I find it necessary to make it only from .005 to .01 inch thick, and I find it will answer all purposes it made only .005 inch thick and is then.

afterwards reinforced with a waterproof .paper cemented to its back, or by other suitable means. I may by this means make several such mothers from the master, and from each of these make, by the same process, a number of nickel metal submasters or stam rs. These submaster or stampers may be deposited to a thickness of about .020 inch and used as stampers for producing the usual molded or composition records. I find that such a stamper is far more durable than the usual copper stamper and that the molded records made from it are much more faithful coples of the original wax master. The combination of these processes furthermore results in the'saving of a great; deal of time 1n the production of Stampers, as I am enabled to turn out by this means the first stamper within about three days as a ainst an average of 23 to 30 days by the 01 means, where the entire process is carried out 1n copper.

In using these sub masters for making my new metal playing record, I find 1t 1s necessary to have them no thicker than .005 inch and if backed up with a waterproof P p only .0005 is necessary. Such a sub-master can, by my new process of deposltion referred to above, be made in 5 minutes as against 48 hours in making acopper stamper by present means.

I may de osit these new laying records sufliciently t ick to remain at dur ng playing and to withstand handling, which thlckness I find in general to be .016 to.02 inch or I ma deposit them only .0005 to .001 inch thic and back them up by electrodeposition or otherwise with another metal, as

iron; or I may also back up a thin deposited sound record by uniting it with another metal plate, as iron, by means of soft or hard solder.

It is also obvious that whether the playing record consists of nickel metal only or whether it is backed up with another metal by electrodeposition or otherwise, two of them-may be united back to back, either by means of soft or hard solder, or by a cement, or otherwise, and also in the case of uniting relatively thin playing records with a metal plate, as by hard or.v soft solder, one may be mounted on each side of the same plate.

I prefer, however, to makemy new nickel metal or nickel alloy playing records comparatively thin, as say about .0005 to about .005 inch thick and to fasten them either with or without other electrodeposition or other metal backing, as iron, on a filler disc of one or more layers of tough resilient material, as plain or impregnated paper, cardboard, wood, bakelite paper, or other comas described above, a thickness of" position. I may cement the two deposited laying records back to back on one such ayer, but in general I prefer to cement each layer to a separate backing layer or backmg, then dry the same, and unite these two, preferably under pressure in a vacuum dryer. For this purpose, I may use a cement consisting essentially either of waterproof glue, dextrin, casein, or water glass, but I prefer in general to add an inert tiller as fine silica, or pulverized asbestos. I may, however, also cement these records to their backings with a heat-setting cement, as asphaltum, mastic or bakelite.

I find that this type of mounting for my new metal playing records results in many advantages. Although extremely light, they are amazingly strong and in fact almost unbreakable. The filler can be made with a degree of resiliency which will absorb consid'erable shock without injuring the sound groove, but sufliciently rigid to properly operate the sound producing mechanisms.

IVhilc I find that the new nickel metal made-by my process referred to above, is sufiiciently hard to withstand the needle action in reproducers of ordinary weight of from about three to about four ounces, I may make a nickel alloy metal player which is harder for heavier ieproducers and t'or socalled diamond reproducers for hill and dale records.

I find that I can increase the hardness of my new electrodeposited nickel hy slightly increasing the free solvent H-ion concentration of the bath so as to evolve a predetermined amount of free hydrogen at the cathode, and by means of my new anodes maintain this exact predetermined H-ion concentration necessary for this result, and thereby continuously produce a nickel metal depositcontaining a definite amount. of hydrogen sutlicien't to harden the nickel metal. but not su'llicient to cause it to curl or crack, which amount is in general from about one to five volumes of hydrogen per volume of electrodeposited nickel metal."

I'may also make. an alloy deposit by depositing simultaneously two different metals from the same bath, as for instance, nickel and iron, or nickel and cobalt. I find that an electrodeposited alloy containing about nickel and 20% cobalt is very hard. This alloy may be deposited from a bath of the-same H-ion concentration as for nickel, and therefore may be made either hydrogen-free or with a controlled amount of hydrogen. In order to deposit a nickel-iron alloy, however, the solvent hydrogen-ion concentration must be such that an appreciable amount of hydrogen will be evolved at the cathode and absorbed by it. Such an alloy will always contain some hydrogen. In general, I find that an electrodeposited alloy of nickel with from about 1% to about 5% of iron and from one to five volumes of hydrogen is sufiiciently hard.

I ma also harden the surface of a nickel metal or metal alloy player by either sulphiding or oxidizing its surface, as by either treating it as an anode in an electrolytic cell containing an alkaline sulphlde or hydroxide, or by heating it to a high tem erature in air or in hydrogen sulphide. find that the S111 hides or oxides of nickel, for example, so formed are extremely hard and possess a glass-like smoothness. The mckel oxide formed is particularly smooth and many times harder than nickel and in fact almost approaching the hardness of carbo rundum.

For uses, however, Where metal alloy playing records are desired, I may make them by depositing alternate layers of different metals in separate baths, as in this metal and an electrodeposited record surmanner alloys can be produced of metals which will not ordinarily deposit simultaneously, as for instance, nickel and chromium. I find that if such alternate layer deposits are sufiiciently thin, a metal resembling an alloy may be produced without heating. Thicker deposits can, however, be practicall coalesced into an alloy bybaking at then annealing temperatures, in which case if the baking be done in air, a. thin, hard, glasslike oxide will also be formed upon the surface of the deposit.

The metal playing records made by the processes outlined above possess many points of superiority over the plastic composition records hitherto used in the art and made by stamping. These records are not only more faithful reproductions of the original master, but are very light and practically unbreakable. They are, therefore, more convenient to handle and transport, and I find that they not only stand more rough usage and punishment, but also last longer in playing. A miscroscopic examination of of the playing groove and of the needle, shows that not only does the needle Wear much less than it does when used on a composition record, butthat the action of the needle operates to polish or smooth out the playing grooves, thus resulting in improved playing up to certain limits,'while the action of the needle on a composition record results in roughening the groove and gradually wearing it out. This microscopic examina tion also shows that the amount of wear of a needle on a composition record in one run alters its shape sufiiciently to distort the sound groove while the wear of the needle in one run on my new metal record is almost unnoticeable and in twenty runs less than the .wear of a steel needle in one run on a position record.

The present application is a continuation in part ofmy co-pending application, Ser. No. 306,597, filed June 25th, 1919.

What I claim is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a record having a record surface of nickel metal.

2. As an article of manufacture, a record having a record surface of electrodeposited nickel.

3. As an article of manufacture, a master record having a. record surface of nickel metal adapted to receive a non-adherent coating of nickel metal by electrodeposition.

4. As an article of manufacture, a master sound record comprising a main body portion of copper and a record surface portion of nickel. r

5. As an article of manufacture, a sound record having a body portion of nickel metal.

6. As an article of manufacture, a sound record having a body portion of nickel face.

7. As an article of manufacture, a sound record having a body portion of nickel metal and an electrodeposited record surface of nickel metal.

8. As an article of manufacture, a sound record comprising a supporting member and a metallic record portion attached to said supporting member.

9. As an article'of manufacture, a sound record comprising a non-metallic supporting member and a metallic record portion attached to said supporting member.

10. The process of producing sound records, which comprises eleotroclepositing nickel on a master record having a record surface of nickel adapted to receive a nonadherent coating of nickel by ele'ctrodepo sition.

11. The process of producing sound records, which comprises electrodepositing a dense, substantially poreless and pitless layer of nickel metal on a master record having a record surface of nickel, metal adapted to receive a non-adherent coating of nickel metal by electrodeposition.

12. Theprocess of producing sound records, which comprises eleotrodepositing nickelorr an electrodeposited copper master 1 record having a record surface of nickel adapted to receive a non-adherent coating 7 of nickel by electrodeposition.

13. The process of producing sound records, which comprises electrodepositing a dense, substantially poreless and pitless layer of nickel metal on an electrodeposited copper master record having a record surface of nickel metalada.p-ted to receive a non-adherent coating of nickel metal? by electrodeposition.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 10th day of June, 1920.

CHARLES P. MADS EN. 

